For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to
their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark
and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has
been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile
de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far
more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to
Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She
will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she
begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and
married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the
only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves
to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince,
Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games
of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess,
the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus
forever.

Author interview:
Hello Danielle. Welcome to Ja čitam, a ti?. I'm really happy to have you here today and I have some questions for you so shall we start.

1. I must say that I was
really surprised with the idea of trolls in this book so I'm really curious
what inspired you to write about them?

It's a bit weird, isn't it? I get a lot of raised eyebrows
when I tell people I wrote a YA fantasy romance about trolls. Everyone thinks
about the creatures in The Hobbit or Harry Potter, and mine are
obviously quite a bit different. The idea for the setting - a city buried by
rubble - came first. The trolls came into being when I started thinking about
what sort of creatures would inhabit such a place. They grew along with the
plot until they became the characters everyone is now reading about.

2. Both our protagonist
Cécile and Tristan are quite different than usual. What do you think their best and worst qualities are?

Best Qualities: Cécile never lets her pride get in the way
of admitting that she was wrong or that she screwed up. She's a
glass-is-half-full kind of girl, and even when everything goes wrong for her,
she keeps her chin up. Tristan is extremely ambitious, but despite what he
pretends, his motivations are quite selfless. He believes if only he plans well
enough and works hard enough that he can make life better for his people.

Worst Qualities: Cécile often acts before thinking about
consequences. Tristan is a bit of a control freak.

3. As the world-building
in this book is amazing do you have any pictures that inspired you?

Well, thank you! I don't have an inspiration board or
anything like that, but this was the photo on my desktop while I was first
drafting the novel.

4. If you found yourself
in Trollus what's the first thing that you'd visit?

The glass gardens, and I'd get one of the trolls to light
them up for me.

5. Are you a fantasy
lover yourself and if you are what are your favorite fantasy books? I'm a huge
fan of everything that has to do with fantasy and new worlds.

As far as YA goes, my favourite fantasy books that take
place in alternate worlds are Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Sabriel by
Garth Nix, and The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.

6. Maybe the only thing
that I missed in your book was time setting. Can you tell us which century
we're dealing with or we'll discover that in sequel(s) to come?

Well, the novel was written so that it would be ambiguous as
to whether it was an alternate world or an alternate history, and that won't
change. But if you really want to be grounded in a specific time,
the 18thcentury is probably the best place to land.

7. Speaking about
sequel(s) - how many do you plan and maybe when can we expect them?

There will be three novels in The Malediction Trilogy.
The second will be released in 2015 and the third in 2016.

8. I tend to finish my
interviews with author's favorite quote or message for my readers. So can you
share yours?

Yes: I am a dreamer. For a
dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is
that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. - Oscar Wilde

That's one of my favorite quotes as well. Thank you Danielle!

About the author

Danielle was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. At the
insistence of the left side of her brain, she graduated in 2003 from the
University of Calgary with a bachelor’s degree in finance. But the right side
of her brain has ever been mutinous; and in 2010, it sent her back to school to
complete an entirely impractical English literature degree at Mount Royal
University and to pursue publication. Much to her satisfaction, the right side
shows no sign of relinquishing its domination.

Broj komentara: 38:

I like that we both had every different questions, so it was interesting to read more about Danielle and her book :D I would love to see the glass gardens, especially with those lights. Sounds like such a magical place.

Fantastic interview, Tanja! I can definitely see how that image inspired the troll caves - I had a similar picture in mind while reading. I've loved both SERAPHINA and Rae Carson's debut trilogy, so I definitely need to get my hands on SABRIEL soon - I've heard so much about it! Thanks for sharing this, Tanja - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eeeek, I loved reading this interview almost as much as I loved reading stolen songbird [; It was quite interesting to see the author answer to these questions, gave me a deeper understanding of the novel. I never actually really considered the time period for this novel, it's interesting that the 18th century was chosen. Awesome interview (:

Ahhhhh! I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I love that picture, it's definitely fits with what I had in my head when reading, and it makes me want to spend some time in Trollus myself. With the option of being able to go outside in the sun of course. I wouldn't last too long in the dark:) This was a fantastic interview ladies, thank you for sharing!

I do like being grounded in a time period, so I'm glad she shared that bit. I'm really excited to read this book. I love fantasy and some of her favorites are mine as well! I love the idea of the Trolls and I love the picture she shared!

EVERYONE IS LOVING THIS SO HARD. "Everyone thinks about the creatures in The Hobbit or Harry Potter, and mine are obviously quite a bit different." that's what so intriguing about this all :) Yikes! I'm a huge control freak so I think me and Tristan would get along just fine. Ooh, I'm going to read The Girl of Fire and Thorns soon. I hope. It's great to know that you like this series, Danielle:) Thanks so much for sharing this great interview with us, Tanja!

Wonderful interview, ladies! I love a positive protag that doesn't let her pride get in the way so I'm happy to hear Cecile is that type of heroine. I do love my fantasy reads so I'll have to keep this in mind. :)

I JUST finished the book on monday so it was definitely fun reading this review. I love hearing what she has to say about her own book (and getting to know that it was based in the 18th century.. kind of). Also I love her inspiration image.

Danielle has great taste in YA fantasy, so I think I'm going to like her sensibility. I really want to read this, everyone seems to love it, and the premise sounds really intriguing. Love that pic that inspired the world too. Thanks for sharing this lovely interview!

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